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Climate activists set up week-long protest

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Published Date: 03 August 2009
By Susan Smith
ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners are set to stage a number of protests across central Scotland, which could cause disruption to the coal industry.
A group made up of activists involved in last year's sit-in protest at Kingsnorth power station in Kent and the camp at Heathrow Airport in 2007 is to stage its first climate camp in Scotland, in South Lanarkshire.

Hundreds of campaigners were se
nt a text message last night calling on them to gather at Mainshill Wood, near Douglas in South Lanarkshire, from today until 10 August.

They will be joining a number of local activists, who have created the Mainshill Solidarity Camp in protest against Scottish Coal's plans for an open-cast mine in the area. Organised under the name Camp for Climate Action Scotland (CCAS), the campaigners intend to use the week to stage a number of acts of civil disobedience within Central Scotland.

Energy group ScottishPower, which owns the Longannet and Cockenzie power stations, has held discussion with police over the possibility of disruption to its operations.

Dan Glass, a spokesman for CCAS, said: "It is hoped that people coming to the camp will help strengthen the defence of this site, an action in itself."

He added: "There will be a lot of civil disobedience to put the spotlight on the Scottish energy policy. We cannot wait for politicians to act – there's been a lot of talk and no action, and if we have to put our bodies on the line, so be it."





Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 03 August 2009 1:04 AM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

John Cameron,

St Andrews 03/08/2009 06:35:05
Every week further evidence emerges that Global Warming is a sham. The Met Office has caused national delight by making an increasing horlicks of long-range weather forecasting. This is the third year running that our weathermen have got their predictions for both summer and winter hopelessly wrong. Now it is admitted the problem lies with their giant computer. It is one of the four official sources of data used by the UN's IPCC to predict global warming. As such it has been hopelessly compromised by the former head of the Met Office Sir John Houghton. He is a fervent believer in the theory that the cause of global warming is man-made CO2, and the computer models were programmed accordingly. He is also a prominent champion of the notorious "hockey stick" graph, which rewrote climate history by suggesting that global temperatures had suddenly shot up in the late 20th century to easily their highest level in history. In recent years, however, the whole theory has come under increasing fire because, as CO2 levels continue to rise, temperatures have failed to follow the IPCC's computer predictions. So the main reason why the Met Office has made such a mess of its forecasts for Britain is that they are based on the same models which failed to predict the declining trend in world temperatures since 2001. In recent months, all attempts to have the Met Office divulge the computer data on which they base their temperature record has been blocked. The Met Office claims this information is a state secret. To prevent further examination of this sham the fruits and nuts and flakes of the Global Warming industry are holding violent demos. Why am I not surprised?
2

Black Sabbath,

03/08/2009 07:14:35
These activists are simply a recycled version of Hitler's SA.

The rule of law does not apply to them because they want to abolish it and have a totalitarian state, as do all advocates of 'climate change'.
3

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 03/08/2009 08:09:12
#1 John Cameron

Your post is nonsense and distortion from start to finish.
4

Proud Mary,

Avebury 03/08/2009 09:23:36
I'm not sure Mr Cameron's comment is complete nonsense, to him at least, he's got an opinion about the way the Met office is managed and that's all fine and well. Black Sabbath, however, is certainly profoundly misguided and perhaps, as you so often find these days in comments on issues like this, he is just doing his job!

The facts are very, very simple. Humanity is headed for some kind of disaster if it does not stop burning fossil fuels at the rate that it is, plundering all the worlds natural resources at the rate that it is, polluting the atmosphere at the rate that it is. Whether you believe in global warming or not is simply not the issue, it's really whether you have a shred of common sense or not isn't it?

A new world is possible, it doesn't have to be us all huddled around a candle in a cave eating alfalfa sprouts and wearing knit your own yoghurt jumpers! The Climate Camp movement is the kind of place where that new world is being shaped, it is, in fact, a university of hope, exciting and inspiring beyond measure!

I am a grandmother and have been involved in the Climate Camp movement since the first action at Drax power station. I care for the world my grandchildren are going to inherit. If you who are reading this also care in the same way, then ignore all the crass negative publicity and come to Climate Camp to discover the truth about us. I promise you this, it will be one of the most interesting and inspiring things that you have done in your life!

Back Sabbath represents the shallow, empty past. We are nothing like Hitler's SS we are exactly like the Suffragettes in that they knew they were right and they were prepared to risk everything to get to the time where their truth is known. They invented Direct Action. Peaceful, non-violent actions aimed at symbolic targets and Civil Disobedience is how women won the vote, is how Gandhi found Independence for India...

Remember Schopenhauer:

Truth travels through three stages: First it i
5

Proud Mary,

Avebury 03/08/2009 09:29:44
Truth travels through three stages: First it is ridiculed, then it is violently oppressed until eventually it is accepted as self evident.

We are in the middle stage but remain utterly undeterred. The atmosphere here is a tonic to my bones.

Come and join us in Scotland, Wales or London or come to the Great Climate Swoop on 17th October and find out for yourself what is happening. If you have been blessed with children and even grandchildren then I would say that it is your duty to come and see anyway as their future is greatly at risk unless the 'developed' world does not stop the crazy journey it has set us on.

The websites for the climate camps and the great swoop are easy to find.

With love and respect to your readers.

Proud Mary.
6

Unimpressed one,

03/08/2009 09:44:31
Well let's hope we have a bout of heavy rain leading to these idiots being thoroughly soaked and miserable. That'll teach them something about climate. As for 'Proud Mary', there never has been a shortage of those who profess to speak on behalf of the weak minded and gullible. A cause, any cause....
7

Joe McT,

03/08/2009 10:00:39
"Every week further evidence emerges that Global Warming is a sham. The Met Office has caused national delight by making an increasing horlicks of long-range weather forecasting"

Check out Christopher Booker in yesterday's Sunday Telegraph.

Apparently the Met Office are refusing to release the data behind their "barbecue Summer" forecast to a Canadian Statistician - Steve McIntyre.

What exactly do they have to hide?


8

Joe McT,

03/08/2009 10:03:41
"The websites for the climate camps and the great swoop are easy to find."

Mary, when I was a kid at school doing Geography, I remember being told that some 10,000 years ago most of Britain was covered in a huge Ice sheet.

Could you tell me please, what made all that Ice melt?
9

The Former Mr. Angry,

Perth 03/08/2009 10:04:18
As good a case for public flogging as any. However back in the real world, #1 John Cameron is exactly right and puts forward the rational case for dismissing these lunatics who day by day seem to be sinking to the depths of "Swampy" and his chums.

Who would believe a Met 50 year forecast now? Still keen on Brown spending 60bn Earth pounds annually to help poorer countries deal with the effects of "climate change", which I believe he uttered from Chester Zoo? (How appropriate).

Still this will no doubt be a diversion for the useless, the unemployed and the feckless and give the "something to do" for a while.
10

Itchy,

Lochgelly 03/08/2009 10:30:35
#5 "Back Sabbath represents the shallow, empty past. We are nothing like Hitler's SS we are exactly like the Suffragettes in that they knew they were right and they were prepared to risk everything to get to the time where their truth is known. "

The truth is that you are just part of rent-a-mob and that the earth's climate is not and never has been static.

11

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 11:00:32
"...are set to stage a number of protests across central Scotland, which could cause disruption to the coal industry."

I wasn't aware that Britain had a coal industry...

This is just another thing that goes to show that green is the new red. It used to be crowds of unwashed morons living in filth who tied themselves to gates and railings protesting about the fact that the government of the day saw fit to take measures to protect this country in the event of the threat of nuclear war.

Now, no doubt, it is much the same band of unwashed (middle aged) morons living in filth who seek to undermine the rights of the individual to choose how they lead their lives.

Turn the water cannon on the lot of them and then direct a wind machine at them. They'd soon go home to their centrally heated houses then.
12

El Franko,

03/08/2009 11:19:38
3 comments:
1. The gentle warming we have enjoyed since the little ice age has been a blessing. Long may it continue.
2. There is no evidence, and no good theory, for CO2 (man-made or otherwise) being an important force in determining climate.
3. If these protesters succeed in damaging equipment and disrupting our energy supplies, they should be prosecuted with the full force of the law. The precedent set by the bizarre judgement on the Kingsnorth offenders must not be replicated in Scotland.
13

Selgovae,

03/08/2009 11:19:58
#4 Proud mary

"we are exactly like the Suffragettes in that they knew they were right"

Genghis Khan knew he was right too. It didn't make him a suffragette.
14

seanie,

03/08/2009 12:23:30
The Met Office have not claimed the data is a 'state secret'.

The information isn't really theirs to release. It's been supplied by a variety of insitiutions and organisations around the world, some of whom have supplied it on the understanding that it it is not distributed futher. Some of the infomation will be of commercial value for instance.

To release the data, ignoring that, would be damaging to relationships with those institutions and sharing of information.
15

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 13:17:11
Seeny,

If they released the data, then it would show very little at all. It certainly wouldn't show enough to justify outrageous rises in taxes and the kind of restrictions in freedoms that the likes of you would no doubt embrace.

The reason they are NOT releasing it is because if they DID do so, it would blow the "man-made global warming" argument out of the water for good. The MET Office, being a government agency, is not about to compromise a significant potential revenue stream and/or the justification for ever tighter control of the population.

Please take the blinkers off and start looking around you. I hardly expect you to start preaching the Clarksonesque mantras yet but at least realise that we are all being f**ked over by this government.
16

Proud Mary,

Avebury 03/08/2009 14:08:07
I am rather taken aback by the ferocity of many of the comments. I apologise to those of you who judge me as being someone who speaks for the weak minded or gullible, a moron who lives in filth, is akin to Genghis Khan or am a red masquerading as a green who should have a water cannon turned on her! I apologise for offending your sensibilities or causing your hackles to rise but then could I suggest that you look very hard at yourselves and where your anger comes from and whether you are, in fact, just closed-minded and bitter people?

I'm no middle aged Swampy, I used to work in an exceptionally stressful job caring for young people on the high risk register and in the voluntary sector for many years before I retired. I am a decent and upstanding member of society. I'm certainly no 'red' and I don't live in filth! Your knee-jerk reactions are all too predictable and to be honest, your hatred shames the good paper that the Scotsman is.

If you look at my original post, you'll see how I state very clearly that whether Global Warming exists, whether it is man-made or not is NOT the issue at all. Any one can see that the way we are using up the world's resources at such a mad rate and polluting the environment grossly is simply a recipe for disaster in the very near future. Put that in your angry little pipes and smoke it before venting your bile on an elderly woman who served her society diligently for many years and calling her unwashed and a red and likening her to a murderous tyrant! Shame on you! Is there nobody who reads the Scotsman website remotely decent? To differ in opinion is absolutely acceptable and expected but to be so insulting?

Here's the truth, "nature doesn't do bail outs" That's why we are dedicated to the Climate Camp. You who criticise have no ground to stand on unless you come and see for yourself what kind of people we are.

And yes, fuel-head, at least we agree on the fact that we are all being f****d over by this government.
17

seanie,

03/08/2009 14:08:21
No. The reason they're not releasing it is they're not in a position to do so. some of the information has been supplied on the basis it shouldn't be disseminated further.

Remember that the four prinicpal data series for global temperatures, the surface based GISS & HADCRU and the satellite UAH & RSS, all correlate very well, and all show similar long term warming trends.

18

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 14:32:57
Longannet power station burns on average 10,000 tons of (imported) coal per DAY and emits more than 20,000 tons of CO2 per day along with other pollutants including mercury and radioactive compounds.

And some folk complain about wind farms!
19

Unimpressed one,

03/08/2009 14:45:31
#17, seanie, "the surface based GISS & HADCRU and the satellite UAH & RSS, all correlate very well, and all show similar long term warming trends."

For 20 years the satellite and balloon readings have shown no net warming whilst the terrestrial measurements (many of which were known to be flawed) were the only indication of a warming trend. You seem to be privy to some new data sources.

20

Unimpressed one,

03/08/2009 14:58:28
#18, But at least it does an effective job of generating power unlike the mass of useless windmills.
21

Unimpressed one,

03/08/2009 15:08:40
#7, It's likely that Steve McIntyre would demolish their figures as he did with all the previous warmists' data masquerading as science. As many suspect, the CRU have probably been massaging their figures and now that their bluff has been called panic has set in as they realise that the game might be up. So much for unbiased scientific integrity.
22

Selgovae,

03/08/2009 15:30:40
#16 Proud Mary

Sorry you were upset at the Genghis Khan remark, but I drew no comparison with yourself or your group. It was you who compared yourself to the Suffragettes on account of believing yourself to be right and willing to risk everything. Those qualities are not enough to justify civil disobedience. Like the Suffragettes and Ghandi, you also have to show your cause is for the general good. I think you have some more work to do.

You say the fact are very, very simple. Clearly they are not, or we wouldn't be having this discussion. You say humanity is "plundering" all the world's resources. What does that mean? And what should we do with them? You say you care for the world your grandchildren are going to live in. So instead of disrupting coal production and increasing the costs we have to pay for energy, why not put your efforts into creating something such as better wind or water turbines?
23

nabodican,

Newton Stewart 03/08/2009 15:33:10
Slioch and Seanie are really struggling today. They are the ones who have swallowed the spin put out by Giss and the met office hook. line and sinker.
Now that the truth is slowly coming out they have nothing except huff & puff.
Then we have Turbine Fred Bloggs who as usual gets his facts wrong. Longannet does not put out more than 20,000 tonnes of CO2 a day which comes to 7.3 million tonnes a year - puts out less than 6 million tonnes of CO2 - check the EMAS statement Fred. While you are checking it you may also wish to count up the claimed C02 saving by all your beloved wind turbines on Scottish soil and explain to me why these claimed savings come to more than is put out by Longannet and Cockenzie put together. !!!!!
You may also be interested to know that Cockenzie is only used to balance the grid and any excess is for export to Ireland.
24

seanie,

03/08/2009 15:48:45
"For 20 years the satellite and balloon readings have shown no net warming..."

Nope.

http://www.ssmi.com/msu/msu_data_description.html

The RSS lower troposphere shows a trend of +0.152°C/decade, compared to the surface records that both show around +0.17 °C/decade since 1979.

You're not telling the truth.
25

seanie,

03/08/2009 15:53:32
A graph with the records normalised on the same baseline;

http://tamino.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/4way.jpg

The four series displayed as twelve month moving averages;

http://cce.890m.com/temp-compare.jpg

Those aren't quite current but do demonstrate the good correlation between the four records.
26

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 16:30:55
As one of the dirtiest 30 coal power stations in Europe and the dirtiest in the UK, Longannet emits 970g of CO2 per kWh generated.

As the station generates around 10TWh per year this results in the release of a staggering 26,000 TONNES of CO2 per DAY.
27

nabodican,

Newton Stewart 03/08/2009 17:15:53
Fred - you are wrong once again so please pay attention
For the year 2008 Longannet burned a total of 2.496 Kte of coal which comes to 6,838 Tonnes per day.
The total stack CO2 emissions for 2008 were 5,957Kte giving 16,320 Tonnes per day which is a long way short of the 26k emanating from your fevered brain.
28

Selgovae,

03/08/2009 17:16:40
#26

I think this is from the WWF report. They define "dirty" in terms of CO2 output. Whatever its impact on climate, I find it hard to think of CO2 as "dirty". Soot is dirty.
29

nabodican,

Newton Stewart 03/08/2009 17:20:28
Did anyone see Sky news early this morning where Piers Corbyn was interviewed and he pointed out the CO2 issue was a load of cobblers as regards climate.
Spookily later news reports made no mention of him !!!!!!
Someone in high places obviously pulling strings to have it suppressed.
30

Selgovae,

03/08/2009 17:28:51
#24

Thanks for the link.

My layman's comment...

The original poster mentioned 20 years. The data you link to covers 30 years or so. I don't want to do the calculations, but a quick glance at the TLT graph suggests the last 20 years probably had a steeper trend than the number you mention. On the other hand, it looks like there are other 20-year periods within the data that would produce a smaller rise, e.g. 1983 to 2003. If we use 10-year periods, we could probably find many downward trends. And it's not hard to imagine data patterns beyond either end of the graph that would change the "trend" in either direction.

I'm not sure I see any data to be alarmed about.
31

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 17:51:14
'In 2008, Longannet’s generation output was 6,439 GWh – the second consecutive year of constrained output, after 7,470 GWh in 2007, and barely half of the 11,850 GWh generated in 2006.

Station output has been reduced mainly as a result of the ongoing outage work to install Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) on three units to reduce emissions of SO2.'
32

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 18:02:14
'A 1,000 MW coal-burning power plant could release as much as 5.2 tons/year of uranium (containing 74 pounds (34 kg) of uranium-235) and 12.8 tons/year of thorium. The radioactive emission from this coal power plant is 100 times greater than a comparable nuclear power plant with the same electrical output; including processing output, the coal power plant's radiation output is over 3 times greater.'

- Wikipedia

I wouldn't call that 'clean'.
33

Proud Mary,

avebury 03/08/2009 18:12:18
Selgovae. thanks for the conditional apology but really, I am not upset but simply saddened by the people writing on these comments.

You have all mostly been waffling away about the veracity of a MET report and whether Global Warming is real or not. The original article that spawned this output was about the opening of the Camp for Climate Action in Scotland and Global warming wasn't mentioned. Perhaps the title "Climate Action" made you all leap to conclusions but I thought I'd been pretty clear both times I wrote up here... The Climate Camps never discuss Global warming, whether it is real or not. We focus on something very, very simple... Viable. sustainable alternatives to the way we live together and the way we live with nature because NATURE DOESN'T DO BAILOUTS.

We cannot possibly continue to poison our atmosphere with fossil fuels without causing disasterous effects in the future. These are serious toxins we are pumping in to the air at a terrific rate.

We can not possibly continue to devour the world's resources without disasterous effect in the near future.

Oil and gas will eventually run out and the burning of it will have created an horrific legacy, as will the rampant use of toxins in our endless production of 'stuff'... no more fish in the sea, no more clean water to drink, land that has become so toxic that it can no longer be used to grow food, millions upon millions of people becoming refugees.

Already, breast milk is toxic because of the way we have been polluting:

http://www.examiner.com/x-10848-SF-Natural-Health-Examiner~y2009m8d1-Breast-milk-and-toxins

We need to change and the camp is a centre for people who are looking for new ways for us to go into the future. The direct action only comes at the end of the week of workshops, conferences and debates discussing exactly the kinds of things you tell me, Selgovae, that we should be discussing. And when you criticise us for a whatever minor disruption we may cause, saying we may
34

Proud Mary,

03/08/2009 18:13:13
... And when you criticise us for a whatever minor disruption we may cause, saying we may "increase the costs we have to pay for our energy", please understand that we can see that these costs are nothing compared to the devastating costs that our children and grandchildren will pay in the future because the likes of you didn't stop to think what was really going on in this world.

And by the way Selgovae, Attila used rape, pillage and genocide to try and rule the world. We are causing, if anything at all, a tiny disruption at a symbolic target for the future of our children.

Fred Bloggs, apart you, this stream is full of fish belly up floating downstream. All power to you!

For those of you reading this who are not so utterly deluded that you think we can continue to exist on this planet happily while treating the earth and the resources the way we do... Come to the camps. They WILL be the best thing you have done in your life. The atmosphere is unlike anything else. The air is filled with hope and intelligence and powerful ideas for a better future.
35

seanie,

03/08/2009 18:20:49
The four data series for the last 20 years overlaid with corresponding linear trends;

http://www.woodfortrees.org/plot/rss/from:1989/to:2009/plot/rss/from:1989/to:2009/trend/plot/hadcrut3vgl/from:1989/to:2009/plot/hadcrut3vgl/from:1989/to:2009/trend/plot/gistemp/from:1989/to:2009/plot/gistemp/from:1989/to:2009/trend/plot/uah/from:1989/to:2009/plot/uah/from:1989/to:2009/trend

The RSS satellite record actually displays the strongest trend of the four.
36

seanie,

03/08/2009 18:24:38
"For 20 years the satellite and balloon readings have shown no net warming..."

...still isn't true.
37

nabodican,

Newton Stewart 03/08/2009 19:13:43
Looks like turbine Fred is turning into a nuke supporter - That should please proud Mary !!!!
38

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 19:18:54
Seanie, please note:

'Mercurius has listed the things AGW denialists will accept as evidence:

1) Nothing that was recorded by instruments such as weather-stations, ocean buoys or satellite data. Since all instruments are subject to error, we cannot use them to measure climate.

2) Nothing that has been corrected to account for the error of recording instruments. Any corrected data is a fudge. You must use only the raw data, which is previously disqualified under rule #1. Got that? OK, moving along...

3) Nothing that was produced by a computer model. We all know that you can't trust computer models, and they have a terrible track record in any industrial, architectural, engineering, astronomical or medical context.

4) Nothing that was researched or published by a scientist. Such appeals to authority are invalid. We all know that scientists are just writing these papers to keep their grant money.'
39

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 19:19:32
my last comment was from the Deltoid site.
40

Selgovae,

03/08/2009 19:26:40
#35 Seanie

http://www.woodfortrees.org/plot/rss/from:1987/to:1997/plot/rss/from:1987/to:1997/trend
41

Selgovae,

03/08/2009 19:30:20
#32

"could release as much as"

I don't disagree. But the "dirty thirty" in the WWF report only measures CO2 emissions.
42

seanie,

03/08/2009 20:07:19
http://www.woodfortrees.org/plot/rss/from:1987/to:2009/plot/rss/from:1987/to:2009/trend

Taking linear trends has difficulites, especially over shorter periods. The scope for natural variability year to year greatly exceeds the undelying warming trend identified, so over short periods that trend might no be discernable at all. Also the start and end points has considerable influence on the results.

Over the longer term a linear trend is more useful as, over that longer period, any trend is more discernable against that background 'noise'.

So trend over 30 years has a significance that a 1o year trend lacks. In fact a 30 year trend is essentially the aggregate of all the shorter trends within the period. So any 10 year trend, be it flat or even down, is of little significance set against a longer trend.

And that longer term is warming.
43

fred bloggs,

Edinburgh 03/08/2009 20:14:45
'The "dirty thirty", a term first coined by green group WWF in 2005, belched some 387.8 million tonnes of CO2 in 2008, down 1.9 percent from 2007. Analysts estimate this number will drop further this year as the global economic downturn severely erodes EU industrial production.'


http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLM253369
44

seanie,

03/08/2009 20:14:51
You can find a good explanation of the difficulty with short term trends here;

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/01/uncertainty-noise-and-the-art-of-model-data-comparison/
45

Selgovae,

03/08/2009 20:38:07
#33 Proud Mary

"you tell me, Selgovae, that we should be discussing."

First off, I suggest you keep words such as "devour", "poison", "horrific", and "deluded" out of the discussion. Then conduct a cost-benefit analysis of coal, gas, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, wave and tidal power. Or explain why we should worry about coal mining if the coal is going to run out anyway. Or perhaps devise a program to drastically reduce the world's population that won't in itself cause world poverty. Then think of a way to present your ideas to India's and China's middle-classes.

"Attila used rape, pillage and genocide to try and rule the world. "

Some say he tried to throw of the yoke of Roman oppression and seek a better future for his people. Genghis Khan on the other hand... :-)

But both believed they were right. Neither claimed to be Suffragettes.

 

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